Fractures in Arctic Winter Pack Ice (North Water, Northern Baffin Bay)

1987 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 211-214
Author(s):  
K. Steffen
Keyword(s):  
Ice Cover ◽  
Water Area ◽  
Infrared Thermometry ◽  
Baffin Bay ◽  
The North ◽  
Ice Surface ◽  
Air Interface ◽  
Pack Ice ◽  
North Water ◽  
Ice Surface Temperature

Profiles of the ice cover in the North Water area were obtained in the winter of 1980/81 by using low-level infrared thermometry. The flight measurements were carried out from December to March. The statistical analysis of the sea ice surface temperature was carried out to yield distributions, frequencies and widths of fractures. Ice-free as well as ice-covered fractures with a maximum ice thickness of 0.4 m were analysed. Typical fracture frequencies were 0.25 per km for Lancaster Sound and 0.14 per km for Baffin Bay and the North Water area, with 90% of fractures being less than 0.6 km wide. From December to March, the fractures occupied 8.8% of the Ice cover in the North Water area, 8.7% along the Baffin Bay profile and 10% in the Lancaster Sound. In the North Water area the distance (y) between fractures for different fracture widths (x) is an exponential function of the form y=Aexp(ax) (A,a are constants), for fractures between 50 and 800 m wide. In the North Water area during winter, fractures of all widths occur 5 times more frequently than in M’Clure Strait and about 7 times more frequently than in southern Beaufort Sea. The heat loss in Lancaster Sound at the ice-air interface was found to be 40 to 100% larger due to the fractures compared to a fast ice situation in the same winter.

Fractures in Arctic Winter Pack Ice (North Water, Northern Baffin Bay)

1987 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 211-214 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Steffen
Keyword(s):  
Ice Cover ◽  
Water Area ◽  
Infrared Thermometry ◽  
Baffin Bay ◽  
The North ◽  
Ice Surface ◽  
Air Interface ◽  
Pack Ice ◽  
North Water ◽  
Ice Surface Temperature

Profiles of the ice cover in the North Water area were obtained in the winter of 1980/81 by using low-level infrared thermometry. The flight measurements were carried out from December to March. The statistical analysis of the sea ice surface temperature was carried out to yield distributions, frequencies and widths of fractures. Ice-free as well as ice-covered fractures with a maximum ice thickness of 0.4 m were analysed. Typical fracture frequencies were 0.25 per km for Lancaster Sound and 0.14 per km for Baffin Bay and the North Water area, with 90% of fractures being less than 0.6 km wide. From December to March, the fractures occupied 8.8% of the Ice cover in the North Water area, 8.7% along the Baffin Bay profile and 10% in the Lancaster Sound. In the North Water area the distance (y) between fractures for different fracture widths (x) is an exponential function of the form y=Aexp(ax) (A,a are constants), for fractures between 50 and 800 m wide. In the North Water area during winter, fractures of all widths occur 5 times more frequently than in M’Clure Strait and about 7 times more frequently than in southern Beaufort Sea. The heat loss in Lancaster Sound at the ice-air interface was found to be 40 to 100% larger due to the fractures compared to a fast ice situation in the same winter.

scholarly journals Applications of Satellite Thermal Infrared Images for Monitoring North Water during the Periods of Polar Darkness

1980 ◽  
Vol 25 (93) ◽  
pp. 425-438
Author(s):  
B. Dey
Keyword(s):  
Satellite Images ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Thermal Infrared ◽  
Water Area ◽  
Infrared Images ◽  
Baffin Bay ◽  
The North ◽  
Thermal Infrared Images ◽  
North Water

AbstractThe study reported here illustrates the unique value of NOAA thermal infrared (TIR) images for monitoring the North Water area in Smith Sound and northern Baffin Bay during the periods of polar darkness. Wintertime satellite images reveal that, during the months of December through February, open water and thin ice occur in a few leads and polynyas. However, in March, the areas of open water and thin ice decrease to a minimum with a consequent higher concentration of ice. Two ice dams, in northern Kennedy Channel and in northern Smith Sound, regulate the flow of ice into northern Baffin Bay and also determine the areal variations of open water and thin ice in Smith Sound.

scholarly journals Habitat Use of Ringed Seals, Phoca hispida, in the North Water Area (North Baffin Bay)

ARCTIC ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 57 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik W. Born ◽  
Jonas Teilmann ◽  
Mario Acquarone ◽  
Frank F. Riget
Keyword(s):  
Habitat Use ◽  
Water Area ◽  
Phoca Hispida ◽  
Baffin Bay ◽  
The North ◽  
Ringed Seals ◽  
North Water ◽  
Area North

scholarly journals Applications of Satellite Thermal Infrared Images for Monitoring North Water during the Periods of Polar Darkness

1980 ◽  
Vol 25 (93) ◽  
pp. 425-438 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Dey
Keyword(s):  
Satellite Images ◽  
Open Water ◽  
Thermal Infrared ◽  
Water Area ◽  
Infrared Images ◽  
Baffin Bay ◽  
The North ◽  
Thermal Infrared Images ◽  
North Water

AbstractThe study reported here illustrates the unique value of NOAA thermal infrared (TIR) images for monitoring the North Water area in Smith Sound and northern Baffin Bay during the periods of polar darkness. Wintertime satellite images reveal that, during the months of December through February, open water and thin ice occur in a few leads and polynyas. However, in March, the areas of open water and thin ice decrease to a minimum with a consequent higher concentration of ice. Two ice dams, in northern Kennedy Channel and in northern Smith Sound, regulate the flow of ice into northern Baffin Bay and also determine the areal variations of open water and thin ice in Smith Sound.

scholarly journals Holocene polynya dynamics and their interaction with oceanic heat transport in northernmost Baffin Bay

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Jackson ◽  
Anna Bang Kvorning ◽  
Audrey Limoges ◽  
Eleanor Georgiadis ◽  
Steffen M. Olsen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Sediment Cores ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Atlantic Water ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Baffin Bay ◽  
The North ◽  
North Water ◽  
History Of ◽  
Ocean Conditions

AbstractBaffin Bay hosts the largest and most productive of the Arctic polynyas: the North Water (NOW). Despite its significance and active role in water mass formation, the history of the NOW beyond the observational era remains poorly known. We reconcile the previously unassessed relationship between long-term NOW dynamics and ocean conditions by applying a multiproxy approach to two marine sediment cores from the region that, together, span the Holocene. Declining influence of Atlantic Water in the NOW is coeval with regional records that indicate the inception of a strong and recurrent polynya from ~ 4400 yrs BP, in line with Neoglacial cooling. During warmer Holocene intervals such as the Roman Warm Period, a weaker NOW is evident, and its reduced capacity to influence bottom ocean conditions facilitated northward penetration of Atlantic Water. Future warming in the Arctic may have negative consequences for this vital biological oasis, with the potential knock-on effect of warm water penetration further north and intensified melt of the marine-terminating glaciers that flank the coast of northwest Greenland.

scholarly journals Horizontal Movement of Fast Ice in the North Water Area

1977 ◽  
Vol 19 (81) ◽  
pp. 547-554 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hajime Ito ◽  
Fritz Müller
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Water Area ◽  
Physical Characteristics ◽  
Stress Strain ◽  
Horizontal Movement ◽  
The North ◽  
North Water ◽  
Fast Ice ◽  
External Forces

AbstractThe understanding of the horizontal movement of fast ice is important for applied sea-ice mechanics. A case study, carried out in conjunction with a polynya known as North Water, is presented in this paper. The displacements of the fast-ire arches which separate the polynya from the surrounding ice-covered sea, were measured and found to be small. It is, therefore, confirmed that these arches prevent the influx of large quantities of sea ice into the polynya. The results are then explained in terms of the external forces (wind and current), the stress- strain situations and some physical characteristics (temperature and thickness) which were measured simultaneously.

scholarly journals Satellite-observed variability and trend in sea-ice extent, surface temperature, albedo and clouds in the Arctic

2001 ◽  
Vol 33 ◽  
pp. 457-473 ◽  
Author(s):  
Josefino C. Comiso
Keyword(s):  
Sea Ice ◽  
Surface Temperature ◽  
Ice Cover ◽  
Warming Trend ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Sea Ice Concentration ◽  
Sea Ice Extent ◽  
North American Continent ◽  
The North ◽  
Ice Surface

AbstractRecent observations of a decreasing ice extent and a possible thinning of the ice cover in the Arctic make it imperative that detailed studies of the current Arctic environment are made, especially since the region is known to be highly sensitive to a potential change in climate. A continuous dataset of microwave, thermal infrared and visible satellite data has been analyzed for the first time to concurrently study in spatial detail the variability of the sea-ice cover, surface temperature, albedo and cloud statistics in the region from 1987 to 1998. Large warming anomalies during the last four years (i.e. 1995−98) are indeed apparent and spatially more extensive than previous years. The largest surface temperature anomaly occurred in 1998, but this was confined mainly to the western Arctic and the North American continent, while cooling occurred in other areas. The albedo anomalies show good coherence with the sea-ice concentration anomalies except in the central region, where periodic changes in albedo are observed, indicative of interannual changes in duration and areal extent of melt ponding and snow-free ice cover. The cloud-cover anomalies are more difficult to interpret, but are shown to be well correlated with the expected warming effects of clouds on the sea-ice surface. The results from trend analyses of the data are consistent with a general warming trend and an ice-cover retreat that appear to be even larger during the last dozen years than those previously reported.

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